Valhalla
The Lounge Area In al the bright and shining realm of Gladsheim, there was no more sacred place, no more revered and hallowed area than that neutral space surrounding the Cross-Dimensional Portal, which served in lieu of a mortal TV (the wide-screen HTDV Holographic edition, that is), this owing to the fact that regular battles between multi-dimensional beings tends to play havoc with the reception, to say nothing of repair costs to furniture and personnel. As such a state of Truce was in force around this area, violations of which were on pain of having to buy the beer kegs for the next Millennium, a steep price to pay for relative peace, of course, but there you have it. Here the Gods sat down to watch their favorite sport (RE: Entertainment) transpiring on the sphere of their Mortal retainers, and in this area frequent arguments over who has the remote would often lead to the contending parties having to take it outside to settle things with a little divinely inspired mayhem. The Portal was capable of Multi-channel interactions so it was possible for them to view a multiple number of planes and dimensions simultaneously, which did a lot to help cut down on the brawls that might otherwise distract from watching the fun going on with the mortals. Contrary to popular myth, Gods were very rarely of the "All-Seeing and All Knowing" variety, and those few who were gifted with divine knowledge and wisdom generally tended to keep it to themselves so as not to incur too much resentment from their peerage. Most Gods had fairly limited perceptions, (albeit they certainly ranked a good deal higher on the perceptiveness level than most Mortals) and as such had to depend on artificial means for keeping tabs on their worshippers. Most were plugged into the Yggdrasil relay net with standby protocols to let them know whether their names were being invoked in prayer or in vain, in which case their Pagers would go off and let them know if they had to put in a personal appearance or just do some plain old fashioned smiting. The Portal was an easier way for them to pass the time when otherwise not engaged with their Godly offices, and so it was not uncommon for them to rub shoulders with beings from rival pantheons with whom they did not exactly share a love of mutual co-existence. Some had grudges going back almost literally to the dawn of time while others were merely suffering from petty snits that often divided them even from close kin for a few centuries. No one could hold a grudge or nurse a pet peeve like a divinity, of course, so the explosive tensions that often singed the air between mortals enemies went a good deal towards explaining why the ban on violence had such strict enforcement. The one eternal problem facing nearly all Immortal beings is boredom. The quest for novelty, for diversion and the sublime ascendance of mortal passions consumed their waking hours both night and day. Mortals were the answer to the problems faced by Gods who had outlived the shifting of the continents and the destruction of the Fifth Solar planet, who had otherwise literally seen and done it all and were far too jaded to be impressed with the petty, ordinary cares of life, so they often resorted to the use of Heroes to brighten up the tedium and ennui with which most were ordinarily confronted. Category:Terminology